EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (CP) - Lou Lamoriello is back behind the bench in New Jersey.

The playoff-bound Devils have fired head coach Claude Julien with less than a week to go in the regular season with the veteran GM Lamoriello taking over for the second straight season.

Lamoriello also stepped behind the bench last season after Larry Robinson stepped down as coach in December.

The surprising move Monday comes with the Devils second in the Eastern Conference with a 47-24-8 record and 102 points. The Devils have won four of their last five games, including Sunday's 3-1 win over Boston. They went 6-6-2 in March while battling key injuries to Brian Gionta, John Madden and Patrik Elias.

Julien, a former Montreal Canadiens coach, took over the Devils on June 13, 2006, after Lamoriello relinquished the coaching duties.

It's reminiscent of the 1999-2000 season when the Devils fired head coach Robbie Ftorek on March 23 and went on to win the Stanley Cup under Robinson that spring.

This makes no sense whatsoever. They are in 2nd place in the confrence and have 102 pts. In my mind this makes absolutly no sense, its so hrd to comprehend. And they have won 4 of their last 5. This is shocking.

This does not make any sense to me.But maybe the Oilers need to jump on him and maybe get a coach that can win.

I will post my views on the topic in a moment but first I want to respond to Oil guy's quote about MacT, I have a problem with the numerus amount of people who think the oilers should fire him, he leads the team to the finals of the playoffs, and now Oiler fans want his head, The team didnt start sucking untill Smyth left when some players got injured and the rest basically gave up, and now you want MacT's head on a platter when you lose for a little bit.

Now I cannot believe the Devils would fire there coach when they are about to go into the playoffs It seems really stupid to me

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- Having the New Jersey Devils in first place in the Atlantic Division with a week to go in the regular season got coach Claude Julien fired on Monday.

Sound strange?

When you work for general manager Lou Lamoriello, it's all about winning Stanley Cups.

Feeling that Julien didn't have the team ready to make a Cup run with the playoffs scheduled to start next week, Lamoriello fired him on Monday and took over behind the bench for the second straight year.

"I don't think we're at a point of being ready both mentally and (physically) to play the way that is necessary going into the playoffs," Lamoriello said outside an empty Devils locker room at the Continental Airlines Arena. "I am not saying that is going to change. But I think there has to be better focus going forward."

The stunning move came less than a day after the Devils beat Boston for their fourth win in five games. New Jersey's 102 points is tied for the second most in the Eastern Conference.

Julien, who was informed of his dismissal on Monday morning by Lamoriello, was not immediately available for comment. He posted a 47-24-8 mark in his first season in New Jersey.

Lamoriello refused to say how long that he has been considering the move, noting that Julien did nothing off the ice to get fired.

"He certainly understands," Lamoriello said.

Lamoriello, who replaced Larry Robinson as coach on Dec. 19, 2005, would not say whether Julien will remain with the organization.

A practice scheduled for Monday was called off after Lamoriello discussed the move with the team.

"Our job is to listen to what has been said and why the decision was made," Devils captain Patrik Elias said. "Management said it gives us the best chance to accomplish what we want to accomplish and that is to win the (Stanley) Cup."

Lamoriello would not say specifically what was wrong with the team. The Devils, who have struggled scoring all season, have slumped recently, winning seven of 15 games with forwards Brian Gionta, John Madden and Elias sidelined by groin injuries.

However, the three have returned to the lineup in the past week, helping to turn things around.

"You don't always judge by wins and losses as far as where you are at," said Lamoriello, who built three Stanley Cup winning teams in New Jersey the previous 11 seasons. "The way we put ourselves in this organization, you have to look at the big picture. To say that 102 points today isn't an excellent accomplishment, it's extremely positive. But I have to look at a lot of factors."

Julien was handicapped by roster problems because the Devils have been up against the NHL salary cap all season. Injuries have forced him to play several minor league players.

Monday's firing isn't the only time Lamoriello made a late-season coaching move. He fired Robbie Ftorek with eight games left in the 1999-2000 season and Robinson led the team to its second Stanley Cup title.

Lamoriello didn't consider the change in 2000 in deciding to replace Julien, the Devils seventh coach since 2000, which includes two stints by Robinson.

"You don't think of those things," Lamoriello said. "Nothing makes it any easier, believe me. The day anything like this becomes easy, or when it's trading a player or when you have make these decisions and it becomes easy, that's the day you look for a different position."

Julien previously coached the Montreal Canadiens from January 2003 until January 2006.

This does not make any sense to me.But maybe the Oilers need to jump on him and maybe get a coach that can win.

I will post my views on the topic in a moment but first I want to respond to Oil guy's quote about MacT, I have a problem with the numerus amount of people who think the oilers should fire him, he leads the team to the finals of the playoffs, and now Oiler fans want his head, The team didnt start sucking untill Smyth left when some players got injured and the rest basically gave up, and now you want MacT's head on a platter when you lose for a little bit.

Now I cannot believe the Devils would fire there coach when they are about to go into the playoffs It seems really stupid to me

CANUCKS RULE!!!Get The Towels Out Guys PLAYOFFS!!!

It is more about MacT as a coach, then that they are on a losing skid since the Smyth trade. MacT has no control over what trades Klowe makes.What he does have control of or should is getting his players to preform.Look at MAB, MacT could not get him to play with any consistantcy and he actually looked like a buffoon out on the ice most times, in Long Island Nolan has him playing well. Better coaching.The coach needs to get the players to believe, MacT can not do that the team seems to have given up and I doubt that he will get them back.As for the trip to the finals, I think that those oilers had more leadership in the lockerroom that they fed off of then ever getting leadership from MacT. Pronger, Peca, Smyth, Stoll, Moreau those guys were teh motivators, If they put Joey Moss behind teh bench for the SC run they would have done just as well. And they would probably be doing better now.

At first I was shocked too, but I looked deeper and I think there is good reason for concern for the Devils. Why have they done well this year? I think we can all answer this question simply: Martin Brodeur. Their goal scoring is, well, kind of pathetic. You can't win a cup without good goaltending, but you also can't win a cup without offense. The team is in bad shape due to several groin injuries that are still hassling some of their players, which is somewhat outside the coach's control (though better conditioning can reduce the chance of muscle pulls). Moving forward, I think it will be interesting to see how this move plays on the psyches of players. Does anyone know if Julien was popular with the team?

At first I was shocked too, but I looked deeper and I think there is good reason for concern for the Devils. Why have they done well this year? I think we can all answer this question simply: Martin Brodeur. Their goal scoring is, well, kind of pathetic. You can't win a cup without good goaltending, but you also can't win a cup without offense. The team is in bad shape due to several groin injuries that are still hassling some of their players, which is somewhat outside the coach's control (though better conditioning can reduce the chance of muscle pulls). Moving forward, I think it will be interesting to see how this move plays on the psyches of players. Does anyone know if Julien was popular with the team?

I'm sorry i'm just not buying that this is a 'hockey decision'. There has to be SOMETHING going on off the ice. You dont make this sort of move with a week to go in the season otherwise. If there was a real problem, Lou could have made this move months ago. Just doesnt make sense. All this window dressing and coverup story is just Lou trying to cover up the truth, and he's a smart man so he can do this quite well. I'd love to know the real reason!

yea i kno....im sure claude couldve led us past ottawa...i dont kno what lou was doing....and why didnt he hire a new coach? sure lou has xperience coaching, but still...we need a real coach that can lead us past teams that we have the potential to beat.